Best PlacesMammoth Lakes, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mammoth Lakes, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Mammoth Lakes ranks 18,163rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mammoth Lakes
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Mammoth Lakes' strengths and weaknesses
Where Mammoth Lakes ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- Short commute16.5 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
Where Mammoth Lakes ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,436 a month, better than only 5% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mammoth Lakes
A household needs to earn about $228,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mammoth Lakes home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $105,742, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Mammoth Lakes' effective rate of 0.68%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mammoth Lakes
Mammoth Lakes runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mammoth Lakes.
Who works in Mammoth Lakes, and how
Work in Mammoth Lakes centers on hospitality & food and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Mammoth Lakes
Mammoth Lakes has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Mammoth Lakes and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mammoth Lakes, month by month
Mammoth Lakes sees roughly 156 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 28° | 15° |
| April | 59° | 44° | 28° |
| July | 85° | 68° | 46° |
| October | 66° | 46° | 28° |
Flying in and out of Mammoth Lakes
The nearest airport, Mammoth Yosemite, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Sacramento International, about 162 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mammoth Lakes
Schools across Mammoth Lakes average a C+, better than 46% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Round Valley ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- Lee Vining ElementaryB · 47% proficient
- Bishop ElementaryC− · 30% proficient
Top middle schools
- Home Street MiddleD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Mammoth HighB · 48% proficient
- Bishop Union HighC+ · 40% proficient
- Lee Vining HighC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mammoth Lakes school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mammoth Lakes measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Mammoth Lakes against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mammoth Lakes
Is Mammoth Lakes a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mammoth Lakes ranks 18,163rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, heat safety, and transit, and lowest on an overheated housing market and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mammoth Lakes expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $887,682. The overall cost of living runs about 41% above the national average. Set against a $105,742 median income, cost of living beats 43% of towns.
Is Mammoth Lakes safe?
Mammoth Lakes is safer than 5% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $754 per resident a year.
Compare Mammoth Lakes with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mammoth Lakes. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mammoth Lakes represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Mammoth Lakes detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mammoth Lakes: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mammoth Lakes: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mammoth Lakes: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mammoth Lakes: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mammoth Lakes detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.